Electronic device, in particular mobile telephone, for detecting radiation

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic device, in particular a mobile telephone ( 1 ), comprising an image sensor ( 4 ) with multiple pixels for capturing an image. The image sensor ( 4 ) is also sensitive to ionizing radiation, in particular pulsed high-energy radiation. The invention additionally relates to a radiation sensor ( 5 ) for measuring the ionizing radiation.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . An electronic device comprising:
 a) an image sensor with several image elements for capturing an image, wherein the image sensor is also sensitive to ionizing radiation, and   b) at least one of an additional radiation sensor and an additional image sensor adapted for measurement of the ionizing radiation.   
     
     
         22 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the device further comprises an evaluation unit, which is connected on an input side with the image sensor and with the additional radiation sensor and calculates a radiation value from output signals of the image sensor and output signals of the additional radiation sensor, which value reflects the ionizing radiation. 
     
     
         23 . The electronic device according to  claim 22 , wherein the evaluation unit statistically evaluates the output signals of the image elements of the image sensor. 
     
     
         24 . The electronic device according to  claim 22 , wherein the evaluation unit compares the output signals of the image sensor with the output signals of the additional radiation sensor. 
     
     
         25 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image sensor is a CCD sensor or a CMOS sensor. 
     
     
         26 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the additional radiation sensor is a Geiger-Müller counter tube or a photodiode. 
     
     
         27 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image sensor and the additional radiation sensor have different spectral measurement ranges. 
     
     
         28 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image sensor and the additional radiation sensor have different power measurement ranges. 
     
     
         29 . The electronic device according to  claim 27 , wherein the image sensor has during the measurement of the ionizing radiation a measurement range, which extends into a kilosievert range. 
     
     
         30 . The electronic device according to  claim 27 , wherein the additional radiation sensor has during the measurement of the ionizing radiation a measurement range, which extends into a nanosievert range. 
     
     
         31 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image sensor and the additional radiation sensor apply different measurement methods to create redundancy. 
     
     
         32 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image sensor and the additional radiation sensor are sensitive to different types of radiation of the ionizing radiation. 
     
     
         33 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image elements of the image sensor and/or of the additional radiation sensor are covered at least partially by an attenuator, which is adapted to attenuate incident ionizing radiation. 
     
     
         34 . The electronic device according to  claim 33 , wherein the attenuator is adapted to attenuate the incident radiation to a different degree. 
     
     
         35 . The electronic device according to  claim 34 , wherein the attenuator has a thickness, which extends wedge-shaped from a side of the image sensor adjacent the additional radiation sensor to an opposite side of the image sensor opposite the additional radiation sensor. 
     
     
         36 . The electronic device according to  claim 33 , wherein the attenuator comprises at least one of the following materials:
 a) copper,   b) aluminium,   c) lead, and/or   d) polymethyl methacrylate.   
     
     
         37 . The electronic device according to  claim 33 , wherein
 a) attenuators of the individual image elements of the image sensor have different spectral attenuation characteristics, and   b) the evaluation unit calculates from output signals of the individual image elements of the image sensor a spectral energy distribution of incident ionizing radiation.   
     
     
         38 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein a radiation filter is arranged in a radiation path of the additional radiation sensor. 
     
     
         39 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein
 a) the device has a temperature sensor adapted for measurement of a temperature of the additional radiation sensor and/or of the image sensor, and   b) the evaluation unit is connected on an input side with the temperature sensor and takes the measured temperature into account for calculation of a radiation value in order to compensate for temperature fluctuations.   
     
     
         40 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , further comprising an active cooling element adapted for active cooling of the image sensor in order to increase a measuring sensitivity of the image sensor. 
     
     
         41 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein a converter is arranged in a radiation path of the image sensor and/or of the additional radiation sensor, which converter is adapted to convert incident radiation from a badly detectable wavelength range into a better detectable wavelength range in order to extend a measurement range. 
     
     
         42 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein a combination of several image sensors is provided for to avoid dead time due to reading-out. 
     
     
         43 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image sensor has numerous image lines each of which comprises several image elements, wherein the image sensor is adapted to scan and save the image line by line, so that the image sensor is insensitive each time only in a single line. 
     
     
         44 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein several additional radiation sensors are spatially arranged in a distributed manner and/or are oriented in different directions. 
     
     
         45 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image sensor can be aligned in different directions relative to the device. 
     
     
         46 . The electronic device according to  claim 45 , wherein a servomotor is provided for motorized alignment of the image sensor. 
     
     
         47 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein, in addition to the image sensor, several different additional radiation sensors are provided for. 
     
     
         48 . The electronic device according to  claim 47 , wherein the different additional radiation sensors are Geiger-Müller counter tubes. 
     
     
         49 . The electronic device according to  claim 47 , wherein the different additional radiation sensors are photodiodes. 
     
     
         50 . A flying object with an electronic device according to  claim 21  for measurement of radiation exposure of a crew of the flying object through cosmic radiation. 
     
     
         51 . The flying object according to  claim 50 , wherein the flying object is an aircraft. 
     
     
         52 . The flying object according to  claim 50 , wherein the flying object is a spacecraft. 
     
     
         53 . The electronic device according to  claim 21 , wherein the image sensor is sensitive to ionizing radiation which is pulsed radiation up to a kilosievert range.